Appearances are deceiving
by xRaellax
Summary: Pitch is defeated, Jack is a guardian. Everything seems to be back to normal. Really everything? Things have changed, black clouds darkening the sun of children's believe. Can the guardians fight this new threat? And what is Pitchs part in it? [ post movie with pre movie flashbacks. Contains OCs, no pairings yet ]
1. Prologue (Hallow)

**Prologue**

It was October 31st, the night of Halloween. A group of boys at the age of eight, some of them even nine, walked along the street of their area, knocking on all the houses for trick and treat. They had been quite successful this evening, but now it was nearly midnight, and a cold feeling of something horrible happening began to touch them. Their lively chatter had nearly stopped and they gazed around nervously, but determined to reach even the last house in their area, standing a little far from the other houses. Suddenly they heard steps and the rhythmic knocking of a walking stick on the ground. All of them froze in fear and watched the bent figure of an old woman emerge from the fog, all in dead silence but for the stick in her hand. As the woman walked closer, they screamed, turned away and ran back the way they came from, to the safe area where more people lived. Only one remained where he was. If it was out of bravery, curiosity or just because his feet refused him to run, you can't tell. But he stood there, shaking and eyes widened as if they wanted to pop out, waiting for the old lady to reach him. As she did, she stopped only a few centimetres away from him, letting him feel her breath on his cold skin.

"Son, why didn't you run like your friends?" she asked in a sly and gleeful voice.

"I – I – I", was all he could answer.

"Well, my child, don't you fear the spirit of Halloween?"

His eyes widened even more, if that was possible, and he shrugged, not sure what to answer.

"You don't know? Is it that, yes? I see. But you are here for trick and treat, yes?" a wide, maybe to wide, grin appeared on her face, and since she wore a hood, her lips were all what the boy could see of her face. The boy nodded, lifting his pumpkin-shaped bag a bit.

"Ah, well then, I should give you something, yes?", she lifted her wrinkled hand, reached under her coat and pulled two orange lollies out, with a golden, pumpkin-shaped brand on the wrap.

"These are the worlds best, my son, and you only get them at Halloween, yes?", she said as she handed them over. "And you better believe, yes?"

"T-thanks, madam", the boy muttered, but as he lifted his gaze from the sweets, the woman was gone. He was alone. That was the moment when his feet began to move and he stormed all the way home.

Hallow sat slightly away from the street, hidden by bushes, and enjoyed the feeling the faith of the boy gave her. She chuckled as she recalled it all again, just having transformed from the old lady into her normal self. That's what made her different from others of her kind; if she took a human form, people of all ages saw her. That was quite important when you want to scare people on Halloween. Her normal, usually to people invisible form was indeed different from what people believe to be ordinary. Her eyes were black, but had a gleaming orange circle around her pupil and her lips were coloured with black and orange stripes. The rest of her skin was white like wax, which gave her a quite dead look. Hallows hair was short and spiky, most of it black like ashes with orange strands in it. The right side of her head was covered by a mask that resembled a jack o lantern, so she could pull it over her face if required. Her clothes consisted of a black long shirt, held together by an orange belt with a pumpkin buckle that contained an ordinary but kind of old looking knife, a pair of black gloves, black tights and, guess what, black shoes.

Somewhere a clock tolled midnight. The spirit of Halloween stood up, snapped her fingers, hopped onto the appeared pumpkin and flew into the sky. There was just one night a year for her, and she was quite busy.

Some hours later Hallow sat on roof to watch the sunrise. It had been quite a successful night, for she had scared some teens on their way home from a party some minutes ago. One of her ghosts landed next to her; he was big, nearly two meters tall and maybe one and a half wide. At sunset he had been small like a figure, perfectly fitting in her hands, but now he had grown due all the fear and fun people had on Halloween. She smiled and padded his head, as she felt a chilly breeze and along with it saw snowflakes falling of the sky. That made her laugh.

"Really? Snowfall on November 1st? That's quite clichéd, yes?"

A white-haired boy landed next to her, placing himself on the roof.

"You always find something to criticise, pumpkinhead", he teased

"Pumpkinhead, yes? That's the best nickname you came up with after knowing me for so many decades, snowman?" The boy chuckled.

"Sadly, yes. But I only see you once a year, you know? Besides, I wonder what you are doing the rest of the time"

She gave him a questioning look. "You really want to know that, yes? Well, I return to my Halloween realm and have wild parties with ghosts and skeletons there, plan new mischief and make sweets."

"Sounds like fun"

"If you wish, you can visit me any time, but mind you, I'll scare you at one time or another for it is my realm and my rules." Hallow looked at him with a wide grin. "But it will pay off for sure, since I have the best pumpkin tea in the world. Or pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin…"

"So a lot of pumpkin food?" He laughed.

"As sure as you bring frost, Jack" She looked at the sky as the sun made her way to replace the night. "I'll have to go now"

"Wait, how do I get to this place of yours?"

"My place, yes? Its easy. Turn left to soul street on the crossroads of fear 'n fun, Jack", she teased. The boy looked at her questioning. "Nah, just kidding. The wind will take you there, I'm sure he knows the way. If you are not to busy with your guardian duty or stuff. Congratulations, by the way"

"Ha, thanks. It was more like a coincidence, really. But I don't think I will be too busy. Things are going smoothly since Pitch is locked away again"

"Yeah, I suppose that's it…oh, I nearly forgot your yearly present!", Hallow remarked and gave him one of her lollies.

"Thanks Hal!"

"See you Jack of the Frost" She waved him as she hopped on a pumpkin and disappeared, leaving the frost spirit by himself. Even if she wished to spend more time with Jack, she couldn't bring herself to wander around in sunlight. It...irritated her. She felt much weaker than at night time and besides, she had an important last stop, before she could return to her realm till next Halloween.

The pumpkin stopped at a glade and Hallow jumped off. It was much harder to recognize things in daylight, she thought as she wandered through the wood, but she was pretty sure that this had been the place where the bedstead had been, looking like forgotten bones of a dead animal. There she stopped and plugged a lollipop into the earth.

"Happy Halloween, Pitch"


	2. Pitch

**Chapter 1**

Various scenes, some memories, others mere hallucinations flashed trough his mind, having just one in common: Each one frightened him to his very core. He was shaking in fear, as suddenly an orange light appeared. It broke the darkness apart, and with it, the nightmares that caused his mental pain. Eyes screwed through the sudden light, Pitch rose from the floor of his lair and examined the light and with it the item that was slowly sinking down. The bogeyman stretched his hand and griped it, feeling the warm and firm form of the item in his hand. Careful, he took a closer look. A sad smile appeared on his face as he recognised it as an orange lolly; send to him by his one and only friend. Or, so he used to call her. Right now, he was not so sure if he ever had something like this. On the other hand, this candy meant, that it was Halloween, and, that he had been kept in his fear since Easter. Anger built up in him, making him clench his jaw and nearly breaking the candy. Pitch forced to calm himself, rage wouldn't bring him any further now. Hallow had been right. Maybe he should have listened to her.

_"Move, amateur. Scaring people by waiting for them behind doors is basically my invention. You must be a complete fool to think something that simple can scare me, the Lord of fear", Pitch grumbled as he shoved a moving corpse out of the way, moving further into the Halloween spirits realm. It didn't take him long to find her, for he knew her long enough._

_"Oh Pitch, what a surprise!", Hallow greeted, as she noticed him. "It's been such a long time"_

_"It sure was, my dear", he answered, as he sat down in one of the armchairs that were placed for what seemed like no good reason in the kitchen. _

_"You want some tea, yes?"_

_"Please" It was not like he wanted something to drink, but by denying Hallows tea one could easily get on her bad side, and that was something Pitch wanted to avoid. While the spirit worked in the kitchen, he let his gaze wander around the room. Not much had changed, really. The kitchen was a big room, more like a hall, consisting of a big kitchen on one side and dark shelves on all the others. In the middle of the room were four armchairs placed around a side table. Pitch even noticed the old rag doll he had brought her a long time ago. It had been a sign of remorse after a quarrel. Not that it was a big deal to get such a doll, Pitch simply stole it from a child, but Hallow had liked his present nevertheless._

_"You want your tea black, yes?"  
"Pitch black, as always", he smiled as he heard her chuckle about his comment._

_"Ah, you used to do this word game every time you came here, yes? It's been a long time, I've missed it", she handed him his cup of tea, then placed herself in the chair opposite to him._

_"We probably should celebrate your freedom, yes? I could make a cake…", she mused._

_"No, I don't think there is anything to celebrate till I get hold of the guardians' hearts and crush them all along with the children's hope"_

_Hallow looked at him with a strange expression. Thinking of it now, he should have known her answer from that look and not pushed any further._

_"This brings me to why I am here. I want you to join me destroying the guardians. With my new learned ability and your power we can easily overcome those goodhearted fools."_

_"You really think that, yes? I don't think it would be that easy. Shouldn't you be glad about your freedom and keep a, lets say, slow pace? I would rather not see you ending up locked away again. Bringing you sweets on Halloween is way not so much fun than you making bad tea jokes with your name"_

_"You really want me to retrieve like a scared dog? Who do you think I am? I'm Pitch, the bogeyman, Lord of Nightmares! There is no way I will let those damn guardians keep the victory."_

_She shook her head sadly. "That's foolish, Pitch. You know as well as I do that the guardians are powerful spirits, even more powerful than ever since so many children believe. And what's so bad about keeping a slow pace anyway? You could join me on Halloween, scare them and then retire for some time."_

_Pitch suppressed a sigh. That won't work, so he had to try the other way around. _

_"Look, Hal. You are the most important person I have. If there is someone I would call a friend, it is you. Who else can I rely on, if its not you, my dear?" He put on his most pleading look. That seemed to strike her._

_"Pitch…I…I know how you feel, not being believed in and stuff, but as a friend its also my duty to safe you from yourself, yes? MiM didn't let the guardians lock you away for nothing. It was because you overdid it. If you would have kept a slow pace, nothing would have happened. Please believe me. We will find a way to work that out, but don't throw your existence away for nothing."_

_"Nothing? NOTHING!? Being not more than a mere legend children laugh about – is that what you call nothing? Have you even the slightest idea what I felt like? Powerless and without anyone believing in my very existence, locked up in my lair for three hundred years!? You know nothing except for stupid pranks and pumpkin recipes!"_

_"Pitch!" One warning. Hal never gave more than one warning._

_"You are just a coward, you have always been. And don't tell me I lie, I know all your fears, I know your past, your pathetic existence as –" That was when burning hot pumpkin tea splashed in his face.  
"Don't bring that up again!" Hallow was standing in front of him, her eyes gleaming more than usual, and he stood up as well._

_"I don't need help from a fool like you are!"_

_"Fine then, go, get your sorry ass kicked again by the guardians, but I won't come to give you sweets"_

_"They will never defeat me. And besides, your sweets are as pathetic as that disgraceful night of yours! I will happily abandon them!"_

_Hallow screamed in rage and before her pumpkin bomb hit him, Pitch was gone._

The candy felt light in his hands. Pitch imagined her face saying "I'm no one to hold grudges", and a sad smile formed again on his lips. She was truly a jewel among the spirits. He suddenly regretted being such an ass, wished he could apologize. That was unusual, not to say unbelievable for him. A warm pain in his chest appeared. What was that? It confused him and made him feel incredibly vulnerable. How much had he changed in that months when one nightmare hunted the next?

Suddenly a voice, cold like metal, broke the silence of his realm.

"You want your revenge? I'll give it to you. All you have to do is join me, bogeyman"

It didn't take him more than a second to recognize that voice. She had that voice you always identify for its very unpleasant sound. The voice of the grey eyed spirit was special unpleasant. It made one shiver and in the same second furious.

"What do you want, Eris?" He made no attempt to hide his disgust. Even for someone like him Eris was a despised company, being the manifestation of discord and anger; hatred was her element. Former known as Discordia, the woman had hair in the colour of lead, skin white like fresh snow, and lips red like blood. She wasn't ugly, by no means; rather could she be described as a rare beauty that understands to mislead one with her appearance. However, a wise man knows not to trust her, for it always leads to chaos.

"Hush, hush, dear Pitch. Who will be such an impolite host? We don't want any conflict, do we?"

Pitch snorted as he stood up, the candy disappearing under his coat.

"Since when do you avoid conflicts, Eris?"

"Oh, I do not. Just with the right company"

"And when did I become the _right_ company?" It was obvious that he didn't trust her.

"Well, I happened to witness your little…playtime with the guardians. Thus I came up with a…lets call it a bargain, I think you will be very interested in"

"Really? What makes you believe that?"

Now it was her turn to snort. "I can bring down the guardians; turn them into nothing more than mere shadows of themselves. You could finish them off easily"

"Why would you do such a thing? As I recall, you have no business with the guardians"

"True, I don't. In return I want you to kill my sister"

That made Pitch laugh. His laughter filled his lair and echoed back from the walls.

"Of all the spirits, it is you who is the most suitable for killing Cupid. Why send me after her?"

Eris looked at him with an angry look.

"_Because _I can _not_ kill her. Trust me, I've tried. But my leaden arrows can not defeat her power, nor can they annihilate it. Once someone is struck by her arrow, I can't annihilate the love. Same goes for her body. But in return she can destroy the hate I plant in humans with her sickening _love_", she spat the last word. Pitch smiled wickedly as he understood.

"I see, so you want me to wreck her from inside out"

"Yes. She may be the fountain of love, but every font can be poisoned, so to speak. Besides, she is not the…brightest star in the sky, it's more like I got the brain and she got the power, really. In return I will set you free and seed hate and distrust among the guardians as well as the children"

Pitch examined her. It sounded like a solid plan and a good way to reach his goal. A voice in him warned him to not bargain with her, but to join Hallow instead. He tossed it aside, believing he had found the ally he needed.

"Sounds like a fine bargain to me"

Eris chuckled. "I knew you would like it."


End file.
